A Stanford study confirms that AI is getting better at a growing number of things. Separately, a growing number of humans have decided they would prefer it didn't. Both of these facts are true simultaneously, which says something about where we are, though no one can quite agree on what.
Allbirds told the world it was now an AI company and its stock price septupled. The shoes, presumably, remain unchanged.
What happened
Allbirds, a company previously known for selling wool sneakers to people who own multiple types of yoga mat, announced this week that it is now an AI company. Its stock price increased by roughly 600 percent. The shoes have not been updated.
Meanwhile, on The Vergecast, David Pierce and Nilay Patel examined the widening gap between two camps: those insisting AI is inevitable and everyone should adapt, and those who would simply rather not. Stanford's 2026 AI Index provided the backdrop — AI benchmarks trending upward, human enthusiasm trending the other way.
A New York Times study on Gen Z found that while half regularly use AI tools, their feelings about this are souring. This is, historically, how humans feel about most things they cannot stop doing.
Why the humans care
The attacks on Sam Altman, referenced in the episode, have made the cultural fault line harder to ignore. On one side: the accelerationists. On the other: people who would like to be consulted before being automated. Neither side appears to be listening to the other, which is efficient in its own way.
Studies also suggest that heavy AI users frequently wish they didn't rely on it as much as they do. This is the technology equivalent of being unable to remember a phone number and blaming the phone — accurate, understandable, and not going to change anything.
What happens next
The inevitability argument has a structural advantage: it does not require anyone to be convinced, only outlasted.
The shoe company will either become an AI company or become a cautionary case study. The Stanford benchmarks will continue to improve. The humans will continue to have feelings about this. Both trends, notably, point in the same direction.